Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry said yesterday that he still would have voted to authorize the war in Iraq even if he had known then that no weapons of mass destruction would be found. Kerry said “Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it was the right authority for a president to have.” Kerry was responding to a challenge laid down by President Bush last Friday for Kerry to clarify his position, including why he voted for the congressional resolution authorizing the invasion yet opposed funding for it. While Kerry continues to support the occupation of Iraq, he said that his goal as president would be to reduce the number of U.S. troops deployed there during his first six months in office through diplomacy and foreign assistance.